The Dark Frost: Struggle for Balance
by Alec534
Summary: You thought the darkness (along with Jack) was destroyed? Wrong! Darkness cannot be snuffed out so easily. The Dark Frost has returned


(SOMEWHERE IN A DISTANT REALM, NOT LONG AFTER THE DESTRUCTION OF EXCALIBUR)

Jack's POV

"I know what you're probably thinking. 'Oh no Jack has been captured and immobilized by squid ink. How did this happen?' Well sometimes if you get yourself captured in order to get the full story. I was brought to lend it out magic by a dark curse, fought against Peter Pan and the Wicked Witch, and became one of the most powerful sorcerers in all the realms. Had to stab myself with Excalibur to save a friend of mine from the Underworld. And somehow I ended up here in this realm, where I met you." I said, staring at a frog sitting on rock.

The frog gave a low croak in response.

I was frozen in place due to the squid ink. The only things I could move were my eyes and my mouth. I still maintained the appearance I had when I had stabbed myself with the sword in Storybrooke.

"How much longer do you think I'm going to be here?" I asked the frog. It hopped away not long after the question.

"Not too long." said a voice.

I shifted my eyes left and right, looking for the source of the voice. My gaze been stalled on a figure perched atop a tree branch. It stood much lower than a human. In fact, it wasn't a human. The figure appeared to be a baboon that looked like it had just gotten out a tussle with a gorilla over a piece of fruit. It stared at me with its grayish brown eyes, a hint of curiosity and malus in its stare.

"Well well, if it isn't the Guardian of Fun. The Man in the Moon's righteous man." he said.

"The Monkey King? Son of a bitch, you're still alive. I thought the guardians defeated you almost 200 years ago." I chuckled.

"Foolish guardian, I cannot die. Not before I kill Toothiana and steal The Tooth of the First Man." cackled the ancient primate.

I ignored the cackling and continued to ask questions.

"Well, I am kind of glad that you're here. Because right now I'm trying to comprehend why I'm still alive right now even though I had stabbed myself with Excalibur back in the other room. Do you think you could explain why I'm not in the underworld?"

The monkey king grinned as he hopped down from the tree and walked towards me. His wrinkled four-fingered hand gripped my chin as he bent me down to his level. Did my best to look at his scarred face without throwing up.

"Sadly for you I do not know why you still live, or why you are still the Dark One. But I am interested in knowing where your dagger is." he growled

'Is this guy for real? For him, evolution must be going in reverse. He's even more stupid than he looks.' I thought.

"If you think that controlling me with a dagger will help you get your revenge on Tooth, you are so out of luck." I chuckled.

I gave him a brief explanation of what happened to the Dagger after it was reunited with Excalibur. He didn't seem to like that answer very much. He stomped around and banged his fists on the ground like a mindless zoo animal. It's quite funny to watch. If only I had a camera to record it to show to Henry and the others.

"No matter, you'll still have to do what I say in order to get free of darkness." he said regaining his composure.

"Yeah well, I'm gonna have to choose option B. That is where I break out of this enchantment and beat the crap out of your hideous simian face, Mr. Planet of the Apes reject." I retorted, using the last part of that sentence to add insult to injury.

"Your petty insults do not bother me. Even if you break out of here, you cannot fight the darkness forever. What makes you think you can overcome this endeavor?" he snarled.

"Because that is what heroes do." I retorted.

At that moment, the enchantment from the squid ink wore off. I took that opportunity to roundhouse kick his face, which sent him face-planting into a tree. The Monkey King stumbled back and groaned in pain. He looked up at me with a look of tainted anger and charged towards me.

"You've made a terrible mistake, Guardian." growled the beast.

"Oh I make mistakes all the time. But still, everything works out." I said.

I reached my arm out and within a few seconds my staff flew right into my hand, and swung it at the malevolent primate. The crooked part of the staff slammed into his face, briefly discombobulating him. He stumbled around and was slurring his animalistic sounds. One could say he was acting like he was intoxicated.

"I live for the simple things. Like how much this is going to hurt you."

I then conjured a fireball in my hand and chucked it at the ground near his feet. The dead leaves and pine needles started to burn, and I made sure the flame would form a circle around his feet, trapping him inside. He notices the flames and tries to pat the fire out with his hands and feet, but it proves to be quite painful for him. Eventually, his had been completely engulfed by the flames and was reduced to a smoldering pile of ash.

My eyes peered down at the charred remains, and a smile grew across my face. I just defeated the second greatest enemy of the Guardians without even breaking a sweat, and I did it single-handedly.

"Enjoying the moment, dearie? Can't say I blame you. It is quite a pleasuring sight." said a familiar voice.

I turned around only to see the vision Rumpelstiltskin. It is been quite a while since I last saw him. Though I thought I destroyed the visions of all the past Dark One's when I killed myself back in Storybrooke. Apparently, that doesn't seem to be the case.

"How are you still in my head? I destroyed all the other Dark One's."

Rumple cackled as he made his way over to pile of smoldering remains. He started joyfully kicking the ashes around as if he were a little kid kicking stones into a raging stream. He immediately stopped after I gave him a look of disgust.

"Well, you didn't get rid of all of them. I'm the only one left in your head. I can take one other form." he said before changing.

His form had quickly changed from the crocodile face pawnbroker I know into the image of a person I know. A rather dashing pirate captain with a hook.

"Perhaps this form is more to your liking." said the vision of Hook.

Damn, he even got his voice right.

"It's better company at least. Anyway, How come I'm still alive and still in the Dark One? Also, does this mean Hook is dead?" I asked.

"Unfortunately for the both of us, even I don't know the answer to that. But I'm just as concerned about it as you are." said Hook with a look of concern.

I'm surprised it even the darkness does not have an answer to why this is happening. As far as I know, no other dark one has been killed by Excalibur and has lived to tell the tale. Also I'm still attached to the darkness even though I meant to destroy it.

"Perhaps we can find some answers in the kingdom just a mile southwest from here." said Hook.

I nodded in agreement. Perhaps someone has a way of knowing why this is happening to me. With that, myself and the vision of Hook walk off in the direction of the nearby kingdom.

(MEANWHILE IN STORYBROOKE)

Regina's POV

I look around and everyone is wearing black. They're all silent and their faces show signs of pure sadness. I walk towards the podium with Henry beside me. As soon I get there, he hands me the microphone.

"Thank you all for gathering here today. Recently times had become darker for all of us. Another curse was casted, and darkness had almost corrupted our town. But one man stood against all odds and faced the darkness head on. In the end, it took him from us. But through his sacrifice, all of us have been from a fate worse than death."

I then passed the microphone to Henry. He cleared his throat and white a couple tears from his eyes before speaking.

"Jackson Overland Frost. To all the children of the realms, he was a guardian. But to everyone here in Storybrooke, he was a friend. Even during the 28 years of the first curse, he looked out for everyone. Whenever someone was having a bad day, he always would be there to bring the fun back into their lives. On snow days, he would run around barefoot in the streets and toss snowballs at the neighborhood kids causing them to laugh with enjoyment. Before I found Emma, I felt alone and neglected. Like there was no place for me here. But Jack changed that. He was the only other person that helped me with Operation Cobra, and was there for me after my dad died. For years, I saw Jack as the older brother I never had. So today, I'm not just saying goodbye to my best friend, I'm also saying goodbye to a member of my family. But he was also a member of the family Storybrooke." he said.

I nearly broke down crying from what Henry said. Every single word he said in that speech was true. I used to see Jack as a second son to me. I still have fond memories of spending time with both Jack and Henry. Like when all three of us went down to the beach and fed the seagulls. Henry would be scared of seagulls because sometimes they would chase him, meanwhile Jack would be laughing his head off the entire time.

After the ceremony, we took the coffin to the Storybrooke Cemetery. Snow had picked out a good spot for Jack's grave. It was in the furthest corner of the cemetery, right under a medium size pine tree. The dwarves placed the coffin into the hole, and everyone else each dropped a white rose it. Even Gold and Belle dropped roses in. Henry pulled a wand from his coat pocket. The wand was blue and had designs of snowflakes and winter winds on it.

"Mother Superior and the other fairies made this for him. I'm sure he would want this with him." he said in-between sobs.

He careful he slid it into the coffin and closed it, before it was lowered into the ground. Hook and David took the shovels and covered the coffin completely. By this point everyone had left, except for Henry and myself. His head nuzzled in my coat as I shushed and comforted him. All the while I stared at the tombstone. Geppetto and August did a impressive job of designing it for Jack. They had designed it as a stand with the shape of a crescent moon on top. On the stand was his name, and on the crescent was a phrase he would say every once in a while.

"If the moon tells you something, believe it."

"Goodbye Jack." I sobbed as Henry and myself walked out of the cemetery and went back to the house.

(Hey guys, sorry for the year-long hiatus. I have been busy with a lot of stuff. There still is a lot of stuff to do so these chapters will come out slow and some of them kind of short. But I will do my best to continue this story. See you in the next chapter)


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